By Amanda O’Donnell
SYNOPSIS
After years of pressure from his parents to go to America for college, aspiring writer Parker Barreau begrudgingly flies from Paris to sunny California and is unsurprised to discover quickly that college life isn’t for him.
With no motivation outside of his parents’ expectations, Parker finds himself failed out of school, stranded in America, tasked with faking his college experience so his parents across the globe don’t find out. Now, he and the motley crew of friends he made throughout the semester have to work overtime to guarantee he stays in America to pursue his writing dreams while making sure his family doesn’t bring him home.
The stakes get higher and higher as the group falls further and further into their lie.
EPISODE #1
After a rough fall semester full of partying, ignoring his parents’ calls, and drafting his first novel, Parker Barreau finds out that he’s officially failed out of college. He’s no longer allowed in his campus housing, the dining halls, or other campus buildings. In a moment of panic on the phone, he tells his family that everything is fine, how he’s doing amazing in classes, and how much he loves college.
Parker vents to his friends. They let him move into their off- campus house and they decide to come up with a plan to fake his college experience so his parents don’t find out and make him go home.
EPISODE #2
The group gets started photoshopping transcripts and other documents to feign Parker’s enrollment for the spring semester.
The group thinks they’re in the clear until, in order to buy himself more time, Parker tells his parents he won’t be coming home for Christmas. They offer to come to America and tell Parker that they’ve already booked their tickets, how excited they are to see his college, and how proud they are of his success in America.
EPISODE #3
Parker decides that he has two options: tell his parents the truth when they visit, face their inevitable disappointment, and go back with them, or be fully self- sufficient by Christmas. He struggles with this debate while he and his friends try to determine their next steps.
Meanwhile, the draft of Parker’s novel gains the attention of a university faculty member.
ARTIFACT Accompaniment
Though Parker Barreau’s story is that of ‘made-for-TV’ fiction, it does align with the story of my interviewee, “C” – though aspects have been dramatized for entertainment purposes. C was a student (and aspiring writer) at a university in American Northeast before he left to return to Western Europe after he was put on academic suspension. He now works for a hotel chain, and frequently moves amongst the many hotel locations across Europe.
He never had to pretend to be in school, though he did put together quite the rag-tag group of friends throughout his two years at the university that undoubtedly would have been more than happy to help him create and enact such a plan, had only he asked.
C is…
- 19 Years-Old
- Male, Cisgender
- White
- Asian
- West European
- Catholic
- Upper Middle Class
- Straight